Sunnyvale Market Conditions February 2016

• Inventory way up
• Closed sales lowest in 14 years
• Prices up
• Homes on market shorter
• Higher end inventory increases the most

Inventory jumped 80% in February; unfortunately, the biggest gain was for homes priced over $1.5 million, the ones in least demand here. Pending sales stabilized after plunging in January, while closed sales were lower than any time in at least 14 years. Demand here remains very strong. The homes that sold in February did so very quickly and at prices over list (on average). Buyers are being more selective about location and pricing but homes that are priced appropriately are seeing a lot of action.

The median sales price in February was $1,618,000, which was $305,000 or 23% higher than in January. It was also $348,000 or 27% higher than a year ago. The price per square foot jumped 11%, from $859 in January to $955 in February. One year ago, homes sold for $874 per square foot, on average. February’s sales were for 111.5% of the average list price, the highest ratio since July. January’s ratio was 109% and one year ago it was 113%.

After the big drop in pending sales in January, it was no surprise that closed sales fell in February. Only 14 sales closed in February, the fewest here in at least 14 years (that’s all the further back I looked). 20 Sales closed in January and 30 in February 2015.

Inventory jumped 79% in February, from 43 at the end of January to 73 at the end of February. That compares to 67 a year ago. Pending sales were up slightly. 25 sales went to contract in February, three more than in January but five less than a year earlier. The result was an increase of more than one month in inventory relative to pending sales to 3.05 months at the end of February. January had a 1.95 month supply and February 2015 had 2.2 months.

Homes that did sell, did so very quickly in February, an average of only 17 days. January’s sales took 30 days and February 2015’s took 24.

Analysis by Price Range

18 homes priced under $1 million were on the market at the end of February, up from 10 at the end of January. Those 18 homes were 23% of Sunnyvale’s total inventory. Pending sales were cut in half to only four during February, representing just 16% of all sales. That was the lowest percentage of homes ever sold in this segment. 13 sales went to contract a year ago. A 4.5 month supply was available at the end of February, up from 1.25 months in at the end of January.

Homes priced from $1 million to $1,499,999 saw a 43% jump in inventory, from 21 at the end of January to 30 at the end of February. February’s 21 homes represented 39% of all inventory here. Pending sales increased by one to 11 in February, making up 44% of all sales. February ended with a 2.7 month supply, compared to a 1.1 month supply at the end of January.

There were big increases in both inventory and sales of homes priced at $1.5 million or more. 10 sales went to contract in February, 2.5 times January’s four. 29 homes were actively listed in this segment at the end of February, 17 more than at the end of January. Inventory relative to pending sales was little changed at 2.9 months. 38% of Sunnyvale’s inventory at the end of February and 40% of pending sales during the month were priced at or above $1.5 million.